Movie Review: RANGO

RANGO

2011
PG

Rango is a 2011 animated film directed by Gore Verbinski. It tells the story of an unnamed lizard (voiced by Johnny Depp) who desperately wants to be an accomplished actor. He unfortunately lives in a terrarium with no friends save some plastic toys, and all he wants is to be taken from his loneliness. When his owners' car gets into an accident on the highway, the lizard is thrown out on his own, stuck in the middle of the desert. When an armadillo (voiced by Alfred Molina) tells him to seek out the small town of Dirt, the lizard sets out into the desert, narrowly avoiding his demise on a number of occasions. He meets a female lizard named Beans (voiced by Isla Fisher) who reluctantly agrees to take him to the town. Once there, the lizard has a difficult time fitting in with the townsfolk, so he devises a clever plan to win their approval. Taking the name "Rango," he starts to offer a lot of big talk about his storied past as a gunslinger. When he ineptly defeats a desert hawk, the townspeople rally around him, and the mayor (voiced by Ned Beatty) quickly appoints him the town's new sheriff. Rango learns that the town's water supply is quickly running out, and when the remaining water is stolen from the bank, he and a number of his fellow "Dirtonians" take to the desert to find the culprit and right the fortunes of their downtrodden home.

Rather than go into full-fledged movie nerd mode and drool all over this movie, I'd like to say my overall reaction in a clear and concise way: Rango is one of the best animated films I've ever seen, and it's easily earned its place among one of the best films I've ever had the privilege to view. Now that I've gotten that out, let's start with a little bit about the screenplay. In a sense, we've got your standard ideal for a western. A lone man comes into town and saves the day for the townspeople. Sounds about right, doesn't it? But there's so much more going on here. The dialogue is pitch-perfect; it's exactly what you'd hear and expect from a western-type flick. On that same token, however, it never really feels stale. The dialogue is fresh, and considering we have a very eccentric character as our lead, we get a very animated and lively execution. Every character is so well-written, and nearly every stereotypical western character is included.

There's not much I can say about the voice acting other than it's absolutely astounding. Depp is phenomenal as our lead, providing essentially two different characters: this unnamed, wannabe thespian desperate for attention and "human" interaction, and Rango, a gunslinger who talks the talk and walks the walk. The ease with which he transitions between the two different personas is also astounding. I could go on and on about all of the fantastic voice performances (and all of the actors I've already mentioned definitely fall into that category), but I'll just list a couple other characters and names who also deserve some commendation: a mouse named Priscilla (Abigail Breslin); Rattlesnake Jake (Bill Nighy); a gila monster named Bad Bill (Ray Winstone); and the Spirit of the West (Timothy Olyphant). In case you can't tell, we've got an all-star cast that totally delivers.

I'd also like to take a minute to talk about the music in the film, which is also pitch-perfect. Hans Zimmer provided the orchestral score, and it fits seamlessly with the sweeping scores of westerns past. However, a special commendation must be made for Los Lobos, who provide a number of original pieces for the film. They're fantastic songs that channel some older western themes.

Roger Ebert wrote in his four-star review that he thought that Rango would appeal to viewers who are well-versed in film. After watching the movie, I wholeheartedly agree. Despite being an animated film, I think that Rango serves more as a film for adults than children. Yeah, there's a lot in the film for kids to enjoy - slapstick moments and a fart joke, I believe - but there's so many references to past westerns that I think adults should be more of the target audience. A lot of the references are small (in the look of certain characters and such), but here's a list of the ones I caught right away (and not all are westerns, don't worry!): Apocalypse Now; Blazing Saddles; Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas; The Good, the Bad and the Ugly; High Noon; Stagecoach; and True Grit. I'm sure there's a lot more than just that, but I'm not perfect, alright?

Seriously, I want to just tell you to drop everything you do and go watch this movie right now. However, if you're not as well-versed with film as I am, I don't know whether you'll appreciate it as much as I did. Then again, maybe you'll find other reasons to love it. Like I said: there's a brilliant storyline and a brilliant list of actors lending their voice talents to the film. And the animation is rather stellar, to be honest. There's so much to love about Rango; I just hope you love it as much as I did.

Movie Review Summary:

Grade: A
Current All-Time Rank: Best - #45
2 Thumbs Up

Movie Review: THE ROCK

THE ROCK

1996
R

The Rock is a 1996 action film directed by Michael Bay. The film follows the terrorist plot of General Francis Hummel (Ed Harris) who goes to extreme lengths in order to force the government into compensating the families of soldiers killed during secret black ops missions. He and his team of similarly disgruntled Marines take hostages on the island of Alcatraz in San Francisco, setting up base inside the famed prison. They soon inform the government of their demands: a sum of $100 million dollars that will partially serve as reparations for the aforementioned families. If the money is not delivered, the Marines will launch four missiles containing a highly toxic chemical into the heart of the city, an attack that could cost hundreds of thousands, if not millions of lives. In an act of desperation, the government quickly calls leading FBI chemical biologist Dr. Stanley Goodspeed (Nicolas Cage) to help defuse the weapons. However, when issues arise concerning the prison's layout, FBI Director James Womack (John Spencer) reluctantly agrees to call upon a man named John Mason (Sean Connery), the only man ever to escape Alcatraz prison. After crafting a deal that would allow Mason to go free after helping with the operation, both he and Goodspeed head into the prison with a group of Navy SEALS to help stop the Marines' plot.

Although the plot we're given is a little bit on the straightforward and simplistic side, it never fails to turn even the slightest bit boring. Michael Bay has long been considered one of the lesser directors on the Hollywood scene, bringing more style than substance to any of his films. However, The Rock does serve as a bit of an exception, in my opinion. The screenplay is rather well-written, not taking it self too seriously but never really delving into anything too silly and rote. In a way, it lets the action do the talking rather than being mired in strange twists of logic or anything of the like. It's straightforward in that we have a man with a warped sense of justice who is out to kill innocent lives battling against men who will do anything to stop him. It's good versus evil, end of story. Although, you can easily argue that our "bad guy" really isn't all that bad, but you'll have to watch the movie to see exactly what I mean.

I think the casting is also top-notch. We get an all-star cast with the likes of Oscar winners Connery and Cage and Oscar nominee Harris. Those three alone make this movie worth watching. Yes, Nicolas Cage does know how to act, and this film serves as evidence. I know he's been mired in a lot of drivel in the past few years, but once upon a time, he was an Oscar winner, so you better believe he's got some sort of talent. Connery is simply Sean Connery, almost playing off himself and his career bravado (in fact, we even get a quip about how John Mason's training came from British Intelligence - clever clever, Mr. Bond). Harris does well as a conflicted man; we're never truly sure if he's completely prepared to do what he's planned to do. We also get some good performances from the likes of John Spencer, David Morse, William Forsythe, Michael Biehn and John C. McGinley.

To be honest, the only real issue I had with the film was the musical score, which was composed in a collaboration between Hans Zimmer, Nick Glennie-Smith and Harry Gregson-Williams. Now don't get me wrong - the music composed for the film is actually very, very good and it fits the piece well. However, it does steal a little too directly from a previous film's score. That film, 1991's Backdraft, was also composed by Zimmer, so we can see where the parallels may have come from. The only problem was that whenever I heard the bit that sounded like the Backdraft score, I was immediately transported back to that film. That's not good for The Rock. To be fair, most people wouldn't recognize this little hiccup, but considering Backdraft is a personal favorite, there was no way I was going to miss that slip.

Despite that, The Rock is still a great action film that definitely deserves a watch if you haven't already seen it. Dispel any current thoughts you may have about Nicolas Cage and just enjoy the ride. It doesn't require much brain-power, but it'll make up for it with guns and explosions all that other guy stuff that we love to watch.

Movie Review Summary:

Grade: A-
2 Thumbs Up

Movie Review: MEGAMIND

MEGAMIND

2010
PG


You can watch the trailer here

I know that I'm a little bit late on seeing Megamind - I had every intention of seeing it last Friday upon its release - but now that I have seen it, you can have my review.

Our story, which was directed by Tom McGrath, follows the titular Megamind (voiced by Will Ferrell), a supervillain whose only joy in life is his constant battles with his arch-nemesis, Metro Man (voiced by Brad Pitt). When Megamind finally dispatches of the city's hero, life becomes dull. He resolves to create a new hero for his battling pleasure, mistakenly choosing TV cameraman Hal (voiced by Jonah Hill) as his future nemesis. When things go awry, Megamind enlists the help of an ever-present reporter named Roxanne (voiced by Tina Fey) to bring Metro City back to its feet.

The screenplay itself is your standard, superhero fare with a few twists in just the right places. We see a man stand up for the good of the city, but this time, that man starts his reign as the city's most prominent villain. I think what I liked most about the screenplay were the throwbacks to the original Superman film. Baby Megamind's start in life almost perfectly mirrors Superman's, and the same can be said for Metro Man himself. Also, one of Megamind's alter egos in the film bears a strong resemblance to a certain character played by Marlon Brando back in 1978. A coincidence? I think not.

The voice acting is good, if not spectacular. Ferrell brings his usual stuff to the lead role, and it's hit-or-miss just the same. Pitt and Hill are both equally good in much smaller roles. However, Fey's character stands out a little bit more simply because the animation artists were able to convey Fey's spirit through her on-screen persona. It was definitely a sight for sore eyes.

I would like to say that Megamind has arguably one of the greatest composition soundtracks that I have ever heard, and the filmmakers found a way to incorporate each song into its respective scene seamlessly. Aside from Hans Zimmer and Lorne Balfe's score, we've got a lot of familiar music from pop culture blasting through our ears. From Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train" to Gun n' Roses' "Welcome to the Jungle," it's a rock party that I thoroughly enjoyed. They even threw in a little MJ at the end.

Overall, Megamind is good, but I don't think it's worth running to see. If you're going to watch it in theaters, see it in the morning when you can get a matinee price; otherwise, I'd just wait for the DVD.

Movie Review Summary:
Grade: B
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